Swimming apparatus



I Oct. 7, 1930./ B, EGLHLUZ 1,777,749

SWIMMING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 11, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. B e121' t o Eguilufz B Y i lineman oct. 7,1930

` N UNITED STA-TES "VBENiT'oneUILuZ, OFYNEW'YQRN. Y.

Application,medJapaiyiL was. `.serial 116.245,88?. L, i

This invention relates, asis indicated by its titletoeavsvvimming apparatus. Itinvolves three 'I main i elemental 50nd, `an exercisingl device,

l ,Tllllfd, lllj structive device.

- It hasbeena ,common practice withibegin? ners toemploy some `type oflotation device `for holding the head up and giving con- 10 fidence.` The usual practice is to push a board or logrorgsome other ,buoyant body i ahead of the beginner, but such primitive methods givefno immediate arm `:ijnovement such asis requiredI in` the art of swimming. I5 i It is one of the objects of the present in `venton to provide `a buoyant body vwhich Willggive safety and confidencetojthe user,

` .equal to thejprimitiveidevice of .the plank or other buoyant body. Incidentally, the "de- 2c, vice, `in, addition to giving confidence and 3,:-is aydetailedside view one of Vthe buoyant bodies, with a propeller laittached 1 Figure 4, is a sectional grip and bearing.

detail ofthe hand paddles andits mounting. y 'i Figure 6, illustrates the .whole structure in a knock down encased position.

Figure 7 shows a modified lform oflbearing` from that'illustrated in'Figure 4;

Swimming, as is well known, is largely a matter ofconiidence andan ability to use the hands and feet for support and pro-v pulsion. 2 Y i Children usually c"dog paddle", thatV is, 'move .the hands rapidly below thev head and chest and kick the dieet, `much after theman- The next step is that of the breast stroke where thehands and arms `are propelledV for ward and swung in an arc. j

Usually `the side stroke, that is lan ex-` tension of one arm` andaback and `down pull on the `other holds the headand body `up. `From this develop-sf the crawl and The principal object of thepresentinvention is first to give a feeling of vsafety land confidence to the swimmei'sfQif novices),

. and a' means of exercising withoutgreat `a` tigue if-more than a novice. In" \fa.ct,iit will good time, in so cerned.

far asV propulsion conn is `possible e regalata@ r'ehrt for `permit the-novice or the experteto. make long strokes and `may be adapted touse in many novel manners. j Referring to the drawlngsyl, and 2, mdb

lcate buoyant bodieswhich `have 'af buoyancy i suflicient to sustain `the weight of. an ordi-` nary personl with a fair safety factor. These two bodies, 1 and2, are interconnected by a chain of elements 3, 14,5, 7 ,u8,and 9,jtl1e three former and `three latter `beingy-adj ustablyintercennected throughya:slen'eve10.` i

Each of theineinbers 5, 7, is perforated as is the sleeve "10. Therefore, thesl'eeve may occupy.V an adjustsdposition4 on 'the twoinembers 5, in ordento give a longer throw on whatfis really` thefcrankA shaft bearinggthe hand gripse, andf S." .Y The vtwo. elements `3 and9, have angularly formed ends 10.',.as illustrated in; Figure 2,

Y which 1 pass through openings of` similar-. `Figure `5, is an enlarged view oi-'one of the Collars 12, 13,1serveas ,stops and bin'dllt;

oted in` bifurcated brackets 20, secured to` permit a free backward movementof the paddle. This arrangement permits the swimmer to give more or less force to either armstroke and thus permit a directional control.

There is a further purpose in having the paddles pivoted to the brackets of the buoyant members. f

Pivots may be readily removed to permit packing the various parts of the device, as is clearly illustrated in Figure 6.

The hand grips 1, 8, illustrated in' Figs. l, 2, and l, of the drawings are mounted on ball bearings and consist mainly of an outer sleeve or grip member 23, having at each end Va ball race 24, 24, within which fit cones 25, 25. rlhe cone 25, may be backed up by a disk 26, and the adjustment for the bearing may consist of the cone 25', adjustable upon a threaded sleeve or enlargement 28, on the crank element 9.

A threaded disk 30, engages a reduced poi'- tion 3l, of the cone 25', and is held in proper adjustment by a nut 32, and lock nut 33. Such a hand grip bearing gives great freedom of action between the parts and may be readily lled with a lubricant which is held therein by the collars, disks, etc., thus requiring no attention.

In Figure 7, there is shown a slightly modi.- fied form of bearing which does not require the cones andballs and ball races. This structure provides a simple and V less expensive form of apparatus.A

There is an outer tubular form 34, having interior bearing surfaces 35, 36, which engage bearing hubs 37, 38. The former is ust in advance of a closure collar 3.9, and the latter is threaded to the shaft part at), and has a closure collar l-l. Y

This particular form and type of bearing for the grip device may be varied to suit the exigencies of any' particular requirement, the main thought being that it shall be fool proof and act-ive enough to insure continued use without disturbing the operator.

Likewise, the exact form of paddles and attachments may be modified and the character of the buoyant members may be changed. A

vOne suggested change is illustrated in the right hand Figure 2, where the buoyant member 2, Vhas an interlining of rubber or other material 2A, that may be inflated through a valve opening 2B, in order to insure greater safety inthe event of the outer casing ofthe e1ement'2 becoming damaged.

In fact, the entire buoyant member might be an inflatable member.

I'Vhatever the constructional feature or materials, the main purpose of this invention is to provide buoyancy with safety and a inea-ns of propulsion.

As an added adjunct to safety, arm or Vwrist loops 1A are provided to keep the device attached to the arms of the swimmer. This will insure the swimmer having an opportunity of always regaining control of the device, should ever the hand, for any reason, slip from the hand grip.

'It is to be presumedrthat the metallic parts of the hand grip may be covered with a resilient material, if desired.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: l. A swimming device comprising a pair of floats, an intermediate crank shaft having two crank arms and means foradjusting the throw of the crank arms relatively to each other to lengthen or shorten the stroke of the swimmer, and hand grips for `the swim mer.

2. In a swimming device, a pair of floats, intermediate crank shafts for rotating the floats and paddles pivotally mounted upon the ioats andheld against relative move ment `to the fioat, when moved in one direction.

3. Ina swimming device, a pair of Heats, means for inflating the floats with air, an intermediate crankshaft having a crank for each hand of the swimmer and paddles appurtenant tothe float.

4. A'device of the character described, a pair of separable crankshafts, one for each hand of the swimmer and removably attached fioatsV for each of the crankshafts.

5. A device ofthe' character described, a pair of separable crankshafts, one for each hand of the swimmer, removably attached fioats for each of the crankshafts, and reinovably securedpaddles for the floats wherein the various elements described'nmy be assembled oi unassembled for packing.

6. In a swimming device, a pair of fioats comprising a casing and a separate interior inflatable member and a crankshaft joining the two 'floats with a crank for eachV hand of the swimmer.

BENITO EGUILUZ. 

